Chicken Meal & Brown Rice Delicate Dinner Dry Dog Food, 16.5-lb bag
Graded by The Sniff System
Dave's Pet Food Chicken Meal & Brown Rice Delicate Dinner is a dry dog food that features chicken as its main protein.
This food offers good protein quality, with chicken meal providing solid amino acid coverage. It also includes quality carbohydrate sources that provide fermentable fiber. Plus, the addition of spray dried egg product adds to the protein diversity.
The main thing to note is that there's no AAFCO statement, which means its nutritional completeness is unverified. This lack of verification capped its overall score.
Good fit for adult dogs who do well on chicken and grain-inclusive diets. Less ideal if you require an AAFCO statement for nutritional assurance.
Summary written by The Sniff System from the data above. Same rubric, same drivers, expressed in English.
Good fit for lower-energy small companion breeds like French Bulldogs, Bulldogs, and Boston Terriers navigating a sensitive stomach. Chicken meal leads at position 1, with dried plain beet pulp (prebiotic fiber) at position 9 on the deck. Frenchies have notoriously sensitive GI tracts plus a tendency toward obesity given their low activity needs. Limited-ingredient formulas with moderate calorie density tend to fit them well.
Looking at this for adult French Bulldogs or French Bulldogs with a sensitive stomach ? We are building dedicated pages for these combinations.
Auto-matched from this product's measurements (ingredients, life stage, calorie density) to a breed archetype. Not a substitute for vet input on your specific dog.
Research informing this analysis
MethodologyThe Sniff System grades this product against 3 cited studies relevant to its profile. Each link opens the original source.
- NRC, 2006digestibility · fiber· cited in 2 claims
- AAFCO, 2024zinc
- Swanson et al., 2002prebiotics
Every claim on Sniff traces to a source. If you find a citation that's wrong, outdated, or misapplied, tell us.
Sniff scored this formula 59/100, landing in C-tier (acceptable-with-notes). The biggest contributor was protein quality (+17 points): Reasonable protein quality. chicken meal delivers solid amino acid coverage. A hard cap of 59 also applied because the AAFCO nutritional adequacy statement isn't disclosed on the retailer page (so our methodology can't verify the formula meets adult, growth, or all-life-stages standards). If the brand publishing the AAFCO statement were on the label, the cap would lift and this formula could clear the B-band threshold (60).
Reasonable protein quality. chicken meal delivers solid amino acid coverage.
Quality carbohydrate sources with fermentable fiber.
Includes egg, named fish, or organ meat for diverse high-bioavailability protein.
No AAFCO statement. Nutritional completeness unverified.
- Lowest crude fiber in Dave's Pet Food's lineup (3.3% DMB)
- Top quartile for protein quality in Dave's Pet Food's lineup (17/27)
- Bottom 10% for DMB fat in Dave's Pet Food's lineup (11.1%)
Computed against the rest of our catalog. Percentiles refresh on each catalog update.
Similar dog foods worth considering
Three lenses on products with formulation profiles similar to this one.
Dave's Pet Food Naturally Healthy Adult Dry Dog Food, 30-lb bag
Scores 13 points higher with a similar formulation profile.
Black Gold Explorer Chicken Meal & Brown Rice Formula Dry Dog Food, 40-lb bag
$1.12/lb vs your seed's $3.03/lb (63% less) at a comparable score.
Tender & True Turkey & Brown Rice Recipe Dry Dog Food, 23-lb bag
Turkey instead of chicken, matched score, different brand.
Surfaced from a vector similarity search across 3,491 scored dog foods. How this works.
Read why each ingredient is good or bad for dogs.
- 1protein animalchicken meal
Chicken with the water cooked out. Per pound, packs more protein than fresh chicken. See why →
Position 1: primary protein source. After cooking removes water, this may drop in proportional weight, but it anchors the recipe.
- 2grainbrown rice
Whole grain that's easy to digest. Steady carb energy plus a little fiber.
Position 2: major carbohydrate source.
- 3oat groats
Whole oats with only the inedible hull removed. The most intact form of oats available.
Position 3: major carbohydrate source.
- 4grainsorghum
Whole grain with a low glycemic index. Gluten-free, well-tolerated, decent fiber content.
Position 4: supporting grain. Smaller contribution to the carb deck.
- 5grainmillet
Gluten-free whole grain. Fine for most dogs, often used as an alternative to rice.
Position 5: supporting grain. Smaller contribution to the carb deck.
- 6vegetablepotato
Standard white potato. Steady carb source, common starch in grain-free recipes.
Position 6: meaningful whole-food inclusion. Source of vitamins, antioxidants, or natural fiber.
- 7fatchicken fat
Despite the name, a high-quality energy source. Concentrated calories plus essential fatty acids like linoleic acid. See why →
Position 7: trace fat. Below the level that materially shifts the fat profile.
- 8spray dried egg product
- 9dried plain beet pulp
Beet fiber, with the sugar removed. Long unfairly maligned. It's a real soluble fiber that supports stool quality. See why →
Position 9: functional fiber for digestion or satiety.
- 10othernatural flavor
Legal term for animal-derived flavoring, usually hydrolyzed liver or broth. Adds taste, says nothing about quality.
- 11flax seed
- 12mineralsalt
Sodium chloride. Required at small doses for normal physiology. Not a quality concern in standard amounts.
- 13mineralpotassium chloride
Required mineral. Sometimes used as a salt substitute. Standard inclusion in complete diets.
- 14mineraldicalcium phosphate
Calcium and phosphorus combined. Required source of both minerals, especially in formulas without much bone content.
- 15dl methionine
- 16mineralcalcium carbonate
Source of calcium. Functional. Required in complete dog foods, especially those without bone-in meat meals.
- 17supplementl-lysine
Essential amino acid. Plant-protein-heavy formulas sometimes add it to round out the amino acid profile.
- 18fiberfructooligosaccharides
Prebiotic fiber, often called FOS. Feeds beneficial gut bacteria, similar in function to inulin.
- 19dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation extract
- 20supplementdried kelp
Natural source of iodine and trace minerals. A common premium-brand inclusion.
- 21vitaminvitamin e supplement
Required nutrient and a natural antioxidant. Often pulls double duty as a preservative.
- 22vitaminascorbic acid
Vitamin C. Pulls double duty as a natural antioxidant preservative.
- 23vegetable oil
Unnamed plant oil. Could be soy, canola, corn, or a blend. Named oils like sunflower or canola are more transparent.
- 24vitaminbiotin
B vitamin that supports skin and coat health. Required for AAFCO-complete formulas.
- 25vitaminniacin supplement
B vitamin (B3). Required in complete dog foods, added as a supplement to standardize the dose.
Showing first 25 of 42. Position 1-5 has the largest weight in the recipe.
21 of 25 ingredients have a curated note. Coverage grows over time.